Meanwhile, Russian officials claim the ships are tasked with the protection of drilling platforms seized from Ukraine's Chornomornaftgaz along with the Crimea occupation.

Photo from UNIAN

In the northern part of the Black Sea, Russian missile boats have been deployed "officially, no longer hiding," while the true purpose of maneuvers differs from the stated one, according to a permanent representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Borys Babin.

"I'd like to note that the Russian missile boats as of today, primarily those of the so-called 41 Brigade based in Crimea, today, officially, rather than hiding, have been deployed in the northern Black Sea, that's according to the Russian media," the envoy said in the context of an earlier report on the interception by Ukraine's Navy aviation of a Russian small missile ship near the island of Zmiyiny.

According to Babin, the "legend" being used to explain the stay of such warships in the area is designed for "gullible readers" and has nothing to do with reality.

"The legend of their stay is supposedly the protection of drilling platforms seized from Chornomornaftogaz. But In fact, you do understand that it is a would be a sophisticated suicide to shoot missiles in proximity to such facilities, right? This is gas, you know," the president's permanent representative said.

In this context, he suggested that "their real objective is to ensure actual fire control over Ukraine's territorial sea off the coast of Odesa and Mykolaiv regions."